It is thought that the average person in the United States (2010 population greater than 308 million according to the United States Census Bureau) normally spends almost one-half of their time in their “household” (greater than 113,000,000 in 2010—United States Census Bureau) owned, rented or living with others (a convenient term used to represent where a person calls their “home”). The elderly and disabled spend more to all of their time in their home. If the weather is inclement, a person is sick, without a job, has little income, or with other similar or adverse happenings or conditions, the time spent in their home would be substantially more.
When a person does leave their home it is common for them to carry a portable cell phone (“PCP”) , portable smart phone (“PSP”) or some other such similar portable communication device—commonly cell phones (“CP”) (of 308,000,000 citizens, 234,000,000 owned CP's—“comScore”) that allows for a user (“user”) to, among other functions, make and receive voice calls, e-mails, text or other short messages, videos, pictures, music, voice, data, graphics, and in general, send and receive other information, along with carrying in the CP personal alarm clocks, calendars, reminders, contact name, business, etc. lists, having and using an internet web browser and entering a web address, selecting speed connections through a personalized app, using voice commands, etc. to connect to a destination web site, etc. to search, view, etc. and obtain requested or other useful, in general, information in various forms.
In most circumstances when the user leaves their home they have their CP powered up or turned on in some mode that they can be aware of some to all inbound e-mails, telephone calls, messages, data, etc., broadly called inbound information. But many times the user must turn the CP off, or at least turn the CP to some form of diminished alert status to incoming information—thus rendering the CP in many cases partially to completely inoperative to inbound information. Examples of when the user must turn off or to a diminished alerting status would be in a meeting, in church, in a movie theater, to name but a few likely situations. Or the user may simply elect to not have the CP on, not be in useable proximity, may even have left it somewhere or have had the battery drained below operating levels, thus rendering the CP temporarily or permanently unusable for any communications—in or out.
When a person returns home they generally set their CP somewhere in a single location, thus making the CP usage or range of operability extremely small, or perhaps not operational at all. In some cases in the US and in the World, some people return home and do not have either a CP or home land-line telephone provider service. This circumstance may be one of choice, or because one or both of the services to the CP and/or land-line telephone may be inoperative because of numerous reasons. In either of these cases, the user(s) would be totally without telephone-type communication—in or out bound.
In the past it was common for the US household and its inhabitants (each household has 2.6 inhabitants—US Census Bureau 2010 totaling more than 294,000,000 population in households) to have a telephone land-line. In 1999 there were 186,000,000 home lines. But since 2000 the number of land-lines has fallen in number 4 to 6% every year since. And even more, today 25% of homes have abandoned their landlines (National Health Interview Survey). 22.9% of adults live in homes that have CP but no land-line telephone. The number of wireless (CP) only homes grew 4.3% between 2008 and 2009. Younger users are more likely to live in CP only homes: 48.6% of people aged 25 - 29, 33% of people aged 18-24 and 30-34. More interesting are those adults living in poverty live in 36.3 CP only homes, and amazingly 1.7% of US adults have no phone—CP or land-line. A review of the telephone company's revenue from home land-lines shows a similar story; continue decreasing numbers of home land-lines and revenue, along with increasing revenue from CP service. In the past, households treated the telephone company as a utility—a must, but today what with higher energy, food, etc. costs, loss or reduction in work and earnings or stagnant income, etc., consumers are saying land-lines are an expendable luxury that can only call from home not anywhere the user is. Even abandoned and foreclosed homes are contributing to abandoned or cancelled land-line service, not to be often placed back into service with a new owner. Even new homes now come with ‘optional’ telephone wiring.
People at home are very often not in close contact with either type of telephone—CP or landline because they are in a different or distant room, indisposed, disabled, aged or slow of movement, sleeping or are outside in their yard where they cannot hear either phone ‘ring.’ Additionally people may not be able to hear the phone ‘ring’ because the volume is turned down or off by conscious switching or by a depleted battery, the phone and/or network is inoperable, or the CP is on vibrate. Or people at home can perhaps hear either phone ‘ring’ but cannot answer because they are indisposed, have their arms full or cannot answer for numerous other reasons.
One attempt to provide communications with persons at home was taken with prior art home security systems that provide an emergency communication controlled by an alarm panel at the home of the individual. However, such communications are restricted to situations where the person is at the location of the alarm panel in the home.
Consequently, cell phones are intended to provide communications to a person, but those communications have the foregoing issues. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for providing an improved interactive communication system for dwellings and other places occupied by people.